Way of Life Literature
Publisher of Bible Study Materials
Way of Life Literature
Publisher of Bible Study Materials
NUMBER OF ACADEMICS PUNISHED FOR SPEECH SOARS OVER LAST THREE YEARS (Friday Church News Notes, May 5, 2023, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Academics,” The Post by UnHerd, Apr. 21, 2023: “Attempts to sanction academics for their speech have soared over the last three years, a new report has found. Research by FIRE (Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression) shows that the number of college and university scholars subjected to attempted punishment in the past three years (509) almost matches the corresponding number for the 20 years prior to 2020 (571). The astronomical rise coincides with Donald Trump’s election and the #MeToo movement, which sparked a surge in sanction attempts. Between 2017-2019, there were 252 sanction attempts, compared to a total of 319 over the previous 17 years. But these figures are dwarfed by what the report describes as a ‘tsunami of sanction attempts’ shortly after George Floyd’s murder in 2020. In 2020 alone there were 151 sanction attempts, with 87 occurring in response to race-related expression (58%). A sanction attempt constitutes anything from open letters and petitions to outright termination of employment. Its targets are varied, but among the most prominent are the humanities disciplines (402 attempts) and white and/or male scholars. Nearly four-fifths (845) of sanction attempts involved white scholars (78%), compared to 92 involving black scholars (9%), the next highest group. ... ‘Cancel culture is particularly pernicious when it targets people charged with discovering and disseminating knowledge,’ said FIRE Director Komi Frey. ‘Vocal, dogmatic minorities on the left and the right are trying to restrict the range of acceptable ideas in institutions of higher education, and this should alarm us all. You do not need to agree with a scholar’s teaching, research, or extramural speech to recognize that censorship is not the answer.’”
CHRISTIAN TEACHER FIRED FOR OPPOSING HOMOSEXUAL BOOK HAS WON HER CASE (Friday Church News Notes, May 5, 2023, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Christian Substitute Teacher,” CBN, Apr. 28, 2023: “A Christian substitute teacher has been reinstated to her job and awarded $181,000 in damages and attorneys’ fees after a Georgia school district settled her lawsuit Monday. The district has also publicly apologized to her. Last August, Lindsey Barr was fired by Bryan County Schools officials as a substitute teacher after she raised concerns about a book that was going to be read to her three children at McAllister Elementary School during a library read-aloud program. The book titled All Are Welcome, contains several illustrations of same-sex couples parenting and expecting children. The book caused Barr concern because it contained depictions that conflicted with her sincerely held religious views on marriage and family. She believes the book is inappropriate for young children and that it appeared to be part of an effort to indoctrinate young children into a progressive ideology. Barr brought her concerns as a teacher and parent to the school principal and asked that her own children be excused from this reading time. The very next day, she was unable to access the Bryan County Schools portal she used to accept substitute teaching assignments. Five days later, she was informed by the school that they had terminated her ability to substitute at any Bryan County School. Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) attorneys representing Barr first sent a demand letter last September explaining that her termination was in direct violation of the U.S. Constitution and urging the district to reinstate her as a substitute teacher. When district officials refused, the law firm filed a federal lawsuit arguing, ‘The First Amendment clearly prohibits BCS from engaging in viewpoint discrimination, or the punishment of speech where the opinion or perspective of the speaker is the rationale for the punishment.’ ... As part of the settlement agreement, Dr. Paul Brooksher, superintendent of Bryan County Schools, issued a letter to Barr announcing the reinstatement of her teaching position. ... ADF Senior Counsel Tyson Langhofer, director of the ADF Center for Academic Freedom, [said], ‘Terminating a teacher for engaging in First Amendment protected expression creates an atmosphere of fear and sends a message to the teacher and others in the community that, if they criticize the school’s approach to cultural or political issues or express viewpoints contrary to the school’s preferred viewpoints, they will face consequences. That’s unlawful and why we had to file suit in Lindsey’s situation. The settlement the school district agreed to is a victory for Lindsey, the families of Bryan County Schools, and every parent’s fundamental right to speak out concerning their children.’”
JAPAN’S DEPOPULATION BOMB (Friday Church News Notes, May 5, 2023, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from The Post by Unherd, Apr. 15, 2023: “This week saw the unsurprising news that Japan’s population has fallen again. A sombre Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told the nation that there are now 556,000 fewer people in the country, a twelfth consecutive decline, and a record fall offset only by an influx of 175,000 immigrants in 2022. For the world’s third largest economy, the declining population is now being treated as a national emergency. Japan is now ‘on the brink of not being able to maintain social functions,’ Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told his countrymen earlier this year. The leader of the conservative Liberal Democratic party now regards ‘child rearing’ as one of the country’s most important economic policies. ... Last year, the UN reported the lowest population growth since 1950. Europe, North America and China are now all facing a future of declining and ageing populations. By 2030, one billion of the world’s population will be aged over 65. There are even signs that population growth may be slowing in Africa."
RETRACTING MOSQUITO ANTENNAE (Friday Church News Notes, May 5, 2023, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is from CreationMoments.com: “Most people are aware that it is only the female mosquito that feeds on blood. The male feeds on plant juices. It is also easy to see the difference between males and females in most species. The male has a distinctive pair of antennae. While the female mosquito’s antennae are difficult to see, the male’s looks like a pair of branched feathers coming out of its head. And if it weren’t for a very special feature, these large, feathery antennae would make it difficult for him to fly. Each antenna is planted in a socket, next to which there is a pad made out of special protein. This pad is actually a water-powered engine. When flying, the mosquito's antennae are flattened against its head. But when he lands, he raises the antennae so that he can hear. To raise the antennae, a small amount of water from his system is pumped into the pad which increases its size by 25 percent and causes the pad to unfold, raising the antennae. Nature is full of so many wonders that it would be easy for us to get lost in them. But every one of these wonders is designed by God to lead us to desire to learn more about Him--especially to learn from His Word that He wants a relationship with you through His Son, Jesus Christ. Notes: Steven Vogel. ‘Life’s Devices: The Physical World of Animals and Plants.’ Princeton University Press, 1988, p. 255.”
CONCLUSION: The Friday Church News Notes is designed for use in churches and is published by Way of Life Literature’s Fundamental Baptist Information Service. Unless otherwise stated, the Notes are written by David Cloud. Of necessity we quote from a wide variety of sources, but this obviously does not imply an endorsement. We trust that our readers will not be discouraged. It is God’s will that we know the times (1 Ch. 12:32; Mat. 16:3) and that we be as wise as serpents and harmless as doves. The News Notes remind us that the hour is very late, and we need to be ready for the Lord’s coming. Are you sure that you are born again? Are you living for Christ? “And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof” (Rom. 13:11-14).
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Distributed by Way of Life Literature., publisher of Bible Study Materials and reports for Fundamental Baptists and other fundamentalist, Bible-believing Christians. Established in 1974, Way of Life Literature is a fundamental Baptist preaching and publishing ministry based in Bethel Baptist Church, London, Ontario, of which Wilbert Unger is the founding Pastor. Brother Cloud lives in South Asia where he has been a church planting missionary since 1979. OUR GOAL IN THIS PARTICULAR ASPECT OF OUR MINISTRY (REPORTS AND FRIDAY NEWS) IS NOT DEVOTIONAL. IS TO PROVIDE INFORMATION TO ASSIST PREACHERS IN THE PROTECTION OF THE CHURCHES IN THIS APOSTATE HOUR.
David Cloud, Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org
The Way of Life Literature preaching and publishing ministry is based at Bethel Baptist Church, London, Ontario, of which Wilbert Unger is the founding Pastor. A mail stop is maintained in Port Huron, Michigan.
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